Fortunate Son: The Unlikely Rise of Keith Urban

My next release is a biography of country singer, Nashville superstar and tabloid favourite, Keith Urban. What follows is the background to both his remarkable rise and my book.

It takes more than Frequent Flyer points to cross the great divide that separates rowdy outback pubs from the red carpet of the Grammys, as Keith Urban knows only too well. But after million of record sales, thousands of live shows, a couple of stints in rehab and many years spent in the wilderness, the scruffily handsome country rocker now ranks with Kylie Minogue, INXS, Silverchair and Savage Garden as one of Australia's biggest musical exports of the past 20 years. Urban even made it to BRW's ‘rich list’ of Australian entertainers, earning $20 million in 2005, just a little less than his partner, Nicole Kidman, while the Washington Post recently announced that Urban ‘has graduated to superstar status’.

The first comprehensive and unauthorised biography of this 21st century cowboy, Fortunate Son: The Unlikely Rise of Keith Urban tells the improbable story of how Urban — who was born Keith Lionel Urbahn in New Zealand in 1967 but was raised in Caboolture, Queensland — followed and eventually fulfilled his dream of selling country music back to America. He’s sometimes had to be ruthless; as one former member of Team Urban admitted, ‘Keith would remove you from his career in a heartbeat if he feels that’s what he needs to do.’ And some Urban ‘boosters’ still await their thank you call (and, in one instance, substantial amounts of money) for the role they played in helping him rise above the Nashville pack.

Urban learned to play at the age of six, taught by a woman who placed an ad in the window of his father’s store. By the age of 10 he was a stage veteran. It was his father’s deep love of American country music, especially the hits of Glen Campbell that struck a chord with his son, while a revelation at a Johnny Cash concert in Brisbane revealed what Urban would refer to as his ‘destiny’. ‘The great thing about AM radio at the time,’ Urban said of his musical youth, ‘was the diversity. You would have Johnny Cash and then the Beatles and then Glen Campbell and then the Rolling Stones. It was a great mix.’ At the same time, Urban, unlike most country singers and pickers, was also open to the world of pop and rock, embracing the songs of Dire Straits, Fleetwood Mac, Jackson Browne and many other singer/songwriters — even metal warriors Iron Maiden made his personal playlist. All these acts, in their own way, would leave their mark on Urban’s music.

After too many years playing covers to beer-sodden crowds throughout Queensland and rural NSW, Urban finally scored a record deal with EMI in 1990; his self-titled debut appeared the following year. But just like his peer and ‘friendly rival’ James Blundell, Urban kept one eye on the massive American market — success there meant true acceptance as a country musician, while the financial rewards could be astronomical. By the mid 1990s, Urban had relocated to Nashville, the home of country music, leaving behind most of his Aussie band, his family, his girlfriend and possibly his career. He formed a new group, The Ranch, who scored a record contract and were handled — mishandled, according to some — by Miles Copeland, the manager of superstars the Police. (Urban would joke that his new stage name was ‘Steeeeng’.) Praise was heaped on their shows and The Ranch LP, and they gained a sizeable (mainly female) fan base, but the band soon fell apart. Urban was left in a creative and commercial limbo, while his increasing crack cocaine use thwarted any forward momentum. ‘There was major chaos in my life,’ Urban said. ‘I pushed everybody away.’

As an insider told me, ‘Keith was living in a dodgy neighbourhood, and having all that around, while fighting disappointment and self esteem issues, is trouble.’ ‘Can you imagine,’ asked his former co-manager, Ged Malone, ‘being told by just about everyone that went to see him live that he was amazing — and yet still be struggling? I think he was looking for the magic that would make him a star. He was trying everything.’ In 1998 Urban checked into a Nashville rehab centre and began to get his life back on course (only to relapse again in 2006).

Gradually, such Nashville stars as Garth Brooks and the Dixie Chicks did take notice, recruiting Urban to add his signature guitar licks to their recordings. And he gained even more attention when he opened for A-listers Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Dwight Yoakam. After a deal with Warner Bros soured, Capitol Records, the label of choice for everyone from legend Kenny Rogers to Garth Brooks, signed Urban to a solo contract. And he hit paydirt with his self-titled solo album from 1999, which included the breakout single ‘But for the Grace of God’, a collaboration with two former members of the Go-Gos, but also a song that Urban rejected on the day of its writing, stating ‘it’s not for me’ as he left the session. He was soon talked around.

Relentless touring and increasingly commercially-minded LPs, including 2002’s Golden Road and 2004’s Be Here, helped Urban achieve what no other Australian country act had done before: become a fully-fledged, platinum-plated superstar in the USA — and he’s done all this without wearing the once obligatory Stetson. Be Here shifted one million copies within six weeks of its release; he scored his first of two Grammys in 2005, while his tune ‘Once In a Lifetime’ broke a 62-year record when it debuted at #17 in the Billboard chart, the highest placing for a country single. All the while, Urban was learning to play the Nashville game and align himself with the industry kingmakers who’d help move him forward. (Interestingly, his relationship with Tamworth tastemakers would best be described as shaky; John Williamson, for one, feels that Urban has turned his back on Australia.)
It’s fair to say that Urban has watered down his talent to please the masses, and he’s become a master at catering to his predominantly female audience, yet his success is undeniable: to date he’s sold more than 10 million albums, has scored eight US Number One country singles and typically sells out his stadium-sized shows in minutes. And his very public relationship with Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman, whom he married in an A-list affair on June 25, 2006, has earned Urban a totally new audience, as tabloids across the planet chart their every move. This has been exacerbated by his recent stint in rehab, which stretched from October 19, 2006 until January 2007, and the birth of Sunday Rose Kidman Urban in July 2008. Whether it’s entirely a love match remains unclear, yet the benefits for both his and Kidman’s careers are obvious, while the goodwill towards the ‘Kurbans’ is undeniable.

Based upon extensive interviews with friends, foes, players, true believers and Urban insiders, Fortunate Son reveals how Keith Urban got to live out his childhood dream — and how in the process, in the words of one friend, ‘it very nearly fucking killed him.’

Fortunate Son: The Unlikely Rise of Keith Urban will be published by Random House in January 2009.